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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Salisbury Steak is one of the retro foods that has made a comeback in American kitchens. It was named for James Salisbury, a 19th-century physician, who prescribed it for battlefield patients who, in addition to their wounds, were suffering from digestive problems. His diet recommended serving chopped beef patties three times a day, and the oval-shaped patties, informally dubbed the poor man's steak, came to bear his name. In its purest form, the steak consists only of seasoned beef. However, frugal depression housewives and those cooking in the meat-rationed kitchens of WWII began to add extenders to the chopped beef in order to feed more people. I am no stranger to Salisbury Steak. It was a regular feature on my Mother's table and I made it in the early days of our marriage when then was more love than money. Versions of the steak that are currently popular use wine and mushrooms in the sauce that is served with the steak. The original versions of the recipes did not, for obvious reasons. A budget meal does not lend itself to auxiliary ingredients that cost more than its main components. The newer versions are delicious and I can heartily recommend them. I want, however, to share with you a really old-fashioned version of the steak. Here's the recipe.

Directions:1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Stir in cider vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or noodles. Yield: 4 Servings.

83 comments
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I love caramalized onion with steaks and u have combined them well , jus the perfect gravy for these steaks!!I too make gravy with wine for steaks and i love making different gravies to go with it!!Ur pics looks so real and delicious!happy hols Mary!!

My one and only experience of Salisbury Steak was when I was working as a Camp Counsellor in York, PA. It is not a memory I look back on with fondness as I am sure you can imagine lol. These, on the other hand, look very tasty, especially with the Onion Gravy!

I almost always had the salisbury steak when visiting a local cafeteria as a child. In fact, when going through recipes the other day for our table, I thought I should do my salisbury steak and share it with my blogging friends-you know what they say about "great minds..."!

This recipe is fantastic, I love old fashioned recipe....to me it means tradition, family history.... and Home!!!The onion gravy is deliciuos... thank and happy Thanksgiving to you, your family anf friends.... hugs, ciao Flavia

Heh Mary how did you know this is my favorite dish? My dad called me the hamburgler before McD's used that name! I love LOVE this dish growing up and still look forward to making with with my son when we visit together!

This looks fantastic-I used to make this dish, but only with plain brown gravy. I really like your addition of caramelized onions. Also enjoyed the history behind the dish.Hope your family has a wonderful Thanksgiving Mary!

This looks wonderful and my mouth is watering!! I enjoyed your history of this!! It strikes me as ironic that the doctor prescribed this for digestive problems, as red meat takes the longest time to digest of any food, and requires the most work!! Guess they didn't know that back then, and were thinking of the iron and protein!!

This might sound strange, but I can remember loving the Swanson Salisbury Steak TV dinners when I was a kid. I have been searching for a good recipe, and I know that if you posted it-- it's a winner. Bookmarked! Wishing you a Blessed Thanksgiving.

I have not thought of making these FOREVER, Mary. I LOVED them as a child. Your photos are stunning and I am copying your recipe, now. Feedburner is what many use (it is free) to enable people like me to get your posts by mail. I hope you consider it. You have a gold mine here that I want to get through, eventually.XOValerie

I made these tonight and they were very good! My only changes were to add a bay leaf, some dry ground mustard, some hot pepper, and a pinch of sugar to the sauce and to use fresh thyme in the patties. Thanks for sharing!

Found this recipe via Pinterest. My husband is a picky eater and does not like onions and snuck some on his plate and he loved this salisbury steak! I have never made it myself but it was very easy! Tasty and amazing recipe! Thank you!

This was incredible! I had burgers but no rolls so I made a gravy to go over them. I had a yellow onion instead of red and I used a really nice Montepulciano red wine. I halved the recipe and it worked perfectly. The gravy was out of this world! Thank you!

I have made this 3 times already, and every one in my family absolutely loves it! The gravy is now my husband's MUST on mashed potatoes, whether I'm making the salisbury steaks or not! It's easy, economical and just out of this world delicious. I do use yellow onions and white wine, and it's wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this :)

I am making this for dinner tonight. I love recipes that require "proper" ingredients rather than cans of this and that (usually high in fat, salt and sugar!).I have made quite a few of your recipes now and always with good results.One thing I wondered - would you consider adding a "print" button?

Just a reminder that I do not publish anonymous comments. To the person who asked about wine reduction - when the wine is added to the pan it is boiled until it is reduced to half the original amount. Reduction is a commonly used technique to add flavor to a sauce.

I prepared this for our Sunday dinner, and it was delicious. I doubled the recipe, and I added fresh sliced mushrooms to the gravy. I did have quite a time making the patties. I wonder if my 90% lean grind was too lean.

Made these tonight. They were quite good. I do have a couple of comments. I would reduce the rice a bit. I found the patties fell apart a bit during cooking because of the rice. I found the gravy a bit watery and bland, so I added another tsp of vinegar and an additional 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. I also cooked it down quite a bit to thicken it and intensify the flavour. That worked well. I did not have the wine to add, so that may have made a difference to the flavour. Overall, we liked it in the end and I would make it again (next time with wine).

OMG! I made this recipe and we LOVED it! I never made carmelized onion gravy before, because I never heard of it, and I'm 70 years old! I served it with mashed potatoes and my hubby couldn't get enough! Also, for those with digestive issues, most meat gravies are taboo, but this onion gravy didn't cause any problems. :-)

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